| 48 Next his seat was contested on constitutional and other grounds. He showed skill in the management of his own case in this instance, made a forcible speech before the House, and was admitted by a vote of 49 to 11. In 1854 he was reëlected, and this time he took his seat without resistance, thus serving two terms as a member of the State House of Representatives. King Strang also dabbled in politics a little, coöperating in the main with the Democrats, who were at that time in power in Michigan. 'The Mormon vote' he controlled absolutely, and used it to secure advantages for his community and to make bargains that would help on his schemes of personal or church advancement. In one or two doubtful State contests the action of the islanders under his leadership became a matter of solicitude to party managers, and one or two trips were made to St. James on political errands by that now veteran negotiator, John E. Harmon. Strang did not lack for political ambition. While at Lansing he broached a scheme for subdividing Michigan, which embodied a plan for the erection of a new Mormon territory. This, of course, received no encouragement, and then he applied to Robert McClelland, of Michigan, who was then Secretary of the Interior in the cabinet of President Pierce, for an appointment as Governor of Utah, promising that his administration should be attended by the uprooting of Brighamite Mormonism in the Salt Lake Valley."-Sketch of James Jesse Strang and the Mormon Kingdom on Beaver Island, pp. 10, 11.
On June 16,1856, he received wounds which culminated in his death. It is thought by some that he was the victim of a conspiracy. A United States vessel landed at St. James, and one of the officers went to Mr. Strang's house and invited him to visit the vessel. As they approached the vessel two of Strang's followers, Alexander Wentworth and Thomas Bedford, stepped up behind him and shot him. The assassins were taken on board the vessel and escaped. They were never punished. Mr. Strang was removed to Voree, Wisconsin, where he died on July 9,1856.
The following published account is perhaps correct:-
"The end of King Strang's reign came in 1856. Externally
(page 48) |
